19 percent of workers aged 50–64 are postponing job changes or retirement just so they can keep their current employer's coverage. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Workers who haven't yet retired are worried about affording health insurance — both now and when they do retire.
So say new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, which reveal that 45 percent of those in their 50s and early 60s have little or no confidence about their ability to pay for health coverage once they retire.
In addition, 27 percent said they're not sure they can afford their coverage over the next year — with 10 percent saying they'd thought about going without health insurance for 2019 (but just 5 percent actually decided to risk it at the time of the poll).
And then there are the 19 percent of workers aged 50–64 who are postponing job changes or retirement just so they can keep their current employer's coverage.
Among those who changed their coverage for 2019, 15 percent said they were holding off on medical procedures until their new coverage kicked in—and 8 percent of those in their early 60s are stalling on medical procedures until they're old enough to qualify for Medicare.
That age group is also staying on top of the headlines when it comes to health issues. Half of adults age 50–64 are keeping a close eye on any potential changes to the Affordable Care Act, Medicare or Medicaid. And while the poll took place prior to the December court ruling on ACA constitutionality, 68 percent of respondents were already worried about how their health insurance might change due to potential federal policy changes.
Nearly two-thirds of participants said they're insured either through their own job or someone else's, while about 20 percent had Medicaid, Medicare or other government-provided insurance; eight percent said they buy their own coverage.
“The Affordable Care Act was intended to cut down on 'job lock', where a person feels trapped in their job by their need to preserve their health insurance,” Preeti Malani, M.D., director of the poll and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, is quoted saying in the report.
Malani added, “We were surprised by the low percentage of these adults who bought their own coverage through the ACA exchanges, and the relatively high percentage who felt they had to keep a job or delay retirement in order to keep a plan. Innovative policy solutions are needed to help adults in this age group navigate their insurance options.”
They might also want to explain a few other things, too. About a fifth of those polled said they had little or no confidence that they could understand insurance terms, and about a quarter said they didn't think they knew how to find out what their insurance plan would cover before they received a health care service, or what their out-of-pocket costs would be.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
